Intravenous catheters are medical devices for administering intravenous fluids, medications, and blood products. An intravenous catheter generally consists of a hollow-bore needle and a close-fitting, over the needle plastic catheter tubing used to access the lumen of a blood vessel in a patient. After the needle and catheter are inserted into the blood vessel, the needle is retracted from the patient and discarded, leaving only the catheter in the blood vessel. The distal end of the catheter contains a catheter hub through which fluids, medications, and blood may be injected or through which blood samples may be taken from the patient. When the needle is removed from the catheter, the pointed end of the needle can be accidentally poked into the person handling the needle or someone in the vicinity of the needle. Any residual blood on the needle can be inserted in the person poked by the needle thereby transmitting microorganisms, e.g., bacteria and viruses, usually referred to collectively as blood-borne pathogens.
In order to prevent accidental pokes, needle-stick protectors have been designed to capture the needle as it is being withdrawn from the catheter. One such needle-stick protector is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,080,137, incorporated herein by reference. However, present needle-stick protectors rely on the user operating the device correctly. If a needle is not properly locked in the needle-stick protector, the needle may exit the protector and accidentally poke the user. Therefore, a need exists for a needle-stick protector having a means that ensures that the pointed, contaminated end of the needle can never be exposed to the user during the extraction and disposal of the needle.